Vikings Add Benny Sapp To Depleted Secondary

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — There are just a handful of teams in the NFL with no hope of making the postseason. At 2-7, the Minnesota Vikings are one of them.

The Vikings have plenty to fix by Sunday when they face the Oakland Raiders. High on the list is the secondary, and they’re calling on a former Viking as they grasp for solutions.

The evidence was a little overwhelming Monday night. The Vikings need some help in their secondary. With a season-ending collar bone injury to Antoine Winfield and the suspension of Chris Cook following a felony domestic assault charge, it’s time.

“I mean the next man up you know,” said Jarmaca Sanford. “Antoine is out and you hate to see something like that happen, but that’s part of football. The next man has to stand up and fill the shoes.”

So the Vikings are turning to a former Viking to secure things in the secondary. Is it too little, too late? Perhaps, but at this point they will try anything.

Benny Sapp is back. He was cut by Miami early this season. He’s been recalled to the Vikings, and okay it’s not Deion Sanders in his prime but right now he’s a life vest and he’s familiar.

“I’m going to give it 100 percent and I’m going to do my best to try and be the best at it,” Sapp said. “I’ve been watching from afar, and they’ve been up in the first couple of games.”

This week they will deal with a little of an unknown on the other side of the football. Carson Palmer is now the Raiders quarterback after holding out in Cincinatti and forcing a trade. It’s hard to get a book on him, but that can be good.

“He’s an experienced quarterback and he’s very technically sound,” said safety Tyrell Johnson. “But he’s in a new offense too, so he doesn’t scare me much. He’s a great player, but anybody who goes to a new offense and tries to learn a new system obviously is going to have some problems and make some bad throws.”

Mike Max returned to WCCO-TV as a sports reporter and anchor in April 2005. Mike is no stranger to Minnesota sports. He hosts "Sports To The Max" every weeknight from 7-9 p.m. on WCCO Radio. Prior to hosting the radio show, Mike hosted Sports...